Chapter 14 of "I knkow why the caged bird sings."

Summary: Chapter 14 of Maya Angelou's, "I know why the caged bird sings," is one that caught my attention. Although the chapter is short, it talks about Maya and her brother, Bailey's, return to Stamps. After living with their mother in St.Louis for a little less than a year the two moved back to live with their grandmother and uncle Willie. The two had changed upon their return to their home town. Bailey had become very sarcastic and also became the source of information to the town folk about life outside of Stamps. Maya, however, was the opposite of her brother and the little girl they once knew. She was quiet and never spoke and worried over her own sanity. She would forget peoples name and the "customers whose accounts i had formerly remembered without consulting the ledger were now complete strangers," to her. The reason for her being quite and withdrawn in a way was due to the incident that happened up in St. Louis where she was raped by Mr. Freeman. Even though she wasnt sure if her Uncle Willie knew about what happened, she would often see him watching her with, " a far-off look in his big eyes. Then would quickly send me on some errand that would take me out of his presence" (91). Because of the way her uncle was acting she felt, "relieved and ashamed," for she didn't want his sympathy nor for him to view her as sinful and dirty.

Response: Like I said above, the chapter although short caught my attention. The reason for this was because of the way she talked about her Uncle Willie. In earlier chapters before the two left Stamps, it showed that she loved her uncle. It even said in the chapter that she didn't, "want Uncle Willie, whom I loved in my fashion, to think of me as being sinful and dirty." (92). It is sad to me that she would think her uncle would view her as that. Now I don't know if he did, I would like to think he didn't, but he worries over her and does seem to look out for her. I felt terrible for Maya after I read about the incident and when I read how they went back to Stamps I was worried about how Momma and Uncle Willie would act. In honesty I though Momma was going to freak out, like she does in a later chapter when Maya says, "by the way," but that didn't happen. I hope that Uncle Willie doesn't view her as sinful and dirty and I truly cant wait to read what else will happen in the story. Especially the relationship between Uncle Willie and Maya, and about if she remains quiet.